The title speaks the truth, just as no democracy is possible without the elimination of poverty or ignorance.

"This boy is ignorance. This girl is want. Beware them both and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see written that which is doom unless that writing be erased."

Every person, every entity of power depend for their continued comfort on that writing remaining as it is and has been since the system called civilization has been established.

We need new definitions for the words power and civilization.

Fat, self satisfied beings scoff at such maudlin musings. They will continue to scoff as the rising waters become a secondary consideration to the heat.

"God gave Noah the rainbow sign. No more water. The fire next time."

Health care for democracy indeed. While we're at it, let's include reining in doctors that engage in unethical practices and put personal preferences over following the oath. Let's also end the ban on pot. Soldiers should be given the freedom to cannabis to help them overcome PTSD. Insurance is one problem but it's nothing but legalized extortion even though single payer may lessen that but if the author wants to talk about health care and democracy, she should also talk about left out alternative practitioners and forbidden natural alternatives to Big Pharma.

"As the grassroots clamor rose, Reps. Weiner and Kucinich sought to surf the wave. The crescendo grew and grew, until one day before the House vote on health insurance reform.

And then — poof! — single payer was back off the table."

Um, no. SP was never on the table. Just empty promises to possibly get it on the table but never came up !

"And Speaker Pelosi explained that the substitute amendment couldn’t possibly have a debate and vote, for if it did, amendments to restrict health care for women and undocumented immigrant workers would also get to the floor. Congressional leaders suddenly opined that a losing vote for a single-payer amendment would be “tantamount to driving the movement off a cliff.” Even the President weighed in to discourage a vote on single payer. Rep. Weiner withdrew the amendment."

Well well, look at how "bold" PeeLOWsick and Barry are in ABUSING their own ! Still, Weiner was a sudden come and go show IMHO.

And as for PeeLOWsick, I ask any San Francisco voter who voted PeeLOWsick over Sheehan to step forward and tell us how you rate her now !

"We call upon the President and the Congress to start from scratch and ask you to join us. Senator Bernie Sanders will introduce a single payer bill in the United States Senate in the coming weeks. Demand that your Senator vote for this bill. "

It was tough enough to get the House to listen. The Senate is a tougher chamber to crack given that it's a millionaire's club. Call your moneybag fairy for a billion dollars to slobber those money dogs with prior to contacting your senators at this point. Otherwise, forget it and let's use the next 11 months to work on replacing both Congress and the White House from scratch already and stop apologizing for those two parties. Most members in both parties have no shame for the people and even Paul and Kucinich are neutered for the most part. Shoot, I'm doubting their own integrity when they refuse to leave the parties and go indy.

"It is astounding to think the Democratic Party has made a bid for the United States to join a few shameful nations that severely restrict women’s access to abortion. "

Haven't those two authors paid attention in 2003 when both parties shamelessly sided with Dubya on banning partial birth abortion? They have been doing this shameful siding for years so there's nothing astounding about it. There were more reproductive rights restrictions added since then as well. Roe v Wade is almost crippled to the point that it would make no difference if it were overturned.

I'm sorry but none of what was discussed in this article was a surprise. These events were all premeditated from the start.

Ironic how we must fight to keep even the term "single payer" alive while our few Congressional allies quickly forget what we really need and fall into line with their enthusiastic support of the current bill that contains only a few flakes of gold in a ton of dross.

And I have to point out that "wizened" in the first paragraph ("we felt wizened to the possibility of unknown threats...") means "withered, shriveled". Certainly, close observation of the U.S. legislative (or judicial, for that matter) processes can wizen us.

"The people expected universal health care, and the House of Representatives delivered an anti-abortion bill.

Worse, the Democratic Party traded away fundamental women’s rights for a Massachusetts-style mandate, a law to criminalize the uninsured and subsidize unaffordable private insurance premiums with tax money, something we know already will not reduce costs and will not cover everyone, will not lessen disparities and will not improve the health of the nation."
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Good summary.

Basically, every single Obama voter was thrown overboard into the churning sea, as the deck chairs on the Titanic were rearranged and lifeboats were readied, in order for the crazed Democrats, in desperate need of a passed bill regardless of how lame it is, to ram their garbage through by, um, three votes. Laugh out loud (but it's not really funny) how the Kucinich plans, the Weiner plans, all the other progressive plans and proposals all disappeared in a poof of smoke while a nasty anti-abortion amendment ended up very alive and very real. Why, it’s as if Kucinich and Weiner themselves disappeared into a puff of smoke.

And Conyers was never there in the first place, laugh out loud.

There is an important lesson here. Very simply, if you are smart enough to read Common Dreams, you should be smart enough to NEVER again (assuming you ever have) vote for a Democrat or a Republican. Obviously, both of those parties are right wing parties. All non-right wing parties need to unify into a marketable party with a name that has not and can not be severely harmed by propaganda, such as New Democratic Party-US.

Don't look at me, I have a long track record of having little knowledge or capability of politically organizing. I'm a fish out of water there. I'm just trying to tell you that any political party without the right branding and marketing is never going to break into the Democrats-Republicans monopoly. Forget Greens, Independent, Socialist, forget all of those limited and/or damaged brands. The branding has to be just right and the marketing has to be just right to capture that guy in Peoria who needs a job.

Y'all have a good weekend and a good holiday next week.

Well put.

Democracy is in great part why the elites would deny people money, education, food, residence.

It's not just that they like fondling the wrinkled green stuff, it's that "gainful employment" is the way they steal the active, productive lives of most of us.

Having that money and having people pay because some rich funk does them the grand favor of "owning" their houses and the means of their livelihood means that they get to determine what people do all day.

One of the big levers on people is the threat of eventual decrepitude and death. Grant health care, and one removes most of that particular threat.

Some of them likely know that they pay more out to all the expenses associated with crime. Why prefer that? Crime seldom threatens status quo. Education often does.

The naturally-linked forces of fear-based social conservatism, illicit economic privilege, and MSM-cultivated political reaction, are generally far more congealed and potent in US Soceity today then they were a mere year ago; the retrograde outcome of national health care reform being only one, however glaring, example of this fact.

Despite the GOPers' seeming post-election unpopularity and leadership vacuum, the duopoly's alternate facade - the national Dems - have picked up the rightist status quo ball and run with it just as well if not better.

Obama's election - the mass empowerment of a false but credible-sounding progressive reformer, at a time when reform can no longer be delayed - has had the doubly disastrous effect of further fanning the long-standing hystericalized right, while simultaneously confusing, dispiriting, and politically re-scattering the always fragily-organized center/left.

The only potential upside in all this fragmentation within fragmentation, is that more centrists and progressives may come to see they're being screwed by a needlessly self-imposed loyalty to a fradulent two party system; a system that can never represent functional civic truth, let alone democratic governance, let alone their reasonable humanitarian interests.

You seem surprized that the Dems have abandoned you. Don't be. Remember who they are really accountable to. Remember that they fear losing corporate funding for their campaigns more than anything else. Remember that they think they can finesse you with promises and appease you with comments about how this is the best that you can do. Do you know why they think this way? Because it is true. The first step to getting your way is to challenge them. Conservatives know this and they have the Republicans in line. Unless you are willing to fight with the same ardor don't expect the Dems to do a thing for you. Discredit them. Make them lose elctions even if you can't yet win. Make them start over.

Medicares undercutting of cost is what caused the out of control expense(look at a graph of the cost as soon as medicare was enacted).I suppose the only way to fix that is a total government take over right?
The government is much better at operating things then private industry isn't that a fact?
I mean just look at all there successful programs and corporations Amtrack(bankrupt),post office(bankrupt),Social secruity(soon to be bankrupt),medicare(soon to be bankrupt)
Trillions of dollars in unfunded liabilities and now we want to stack on an entire new massive government insurance agency?

i suppose what's the diffrence we can just steal hard working tax payer dollars or heck just run the money printing press for a while, or even better
just keep getting china to buy our bonds!

yay progressive economics.